The Letters
by too-much-like-Luna
Summary: Harry writes farewell letters to his lovers that resonates throughout the rest of their lives. Harry/Severus/Draco
1. Severus' Letter

Author's Note: I do not own the Harry Potter characters. If I did, the HP haters would have even more stuff to slander.

It just felt right to keep the characters fairly anonymous. Of course, saying the pairing in the summary rather made it unnecessary, but I decided to leave it as is. That's why the letter just starts off, without any "Dear Such-and-Such" or anything.

The Letter

_One day, you'll miss me. You'll look up to talk to me, and realize I'm not there. Perhaps you'll go to curl up to me in bed to warm your feet, and notice that the other side of the bed is cold. One day, you'll realize I'm gone._

_Truthfully, you've been gone for months. Physically, you've been here. Mentally, you've been far away, escaping once again. I know where your thoughts have led you. I'm only blind when I want to be. I know you've been thinking of him. I can't be enough for you. In a way, I understand that. The degrading voice we all have whispers to me, how could I have ever thought I could satisfy you?_

_The first months were bliss. I felt so safe in your arms, so protected, and even loved. Those sensations were new to me, the boy who still felt that he was in a cupboard, sometimes. I think they blinded me from seeing your decreasing want to be with me. I was so happy to believe someone wanted me for me, and I didn't want to see that love turned fully to someone else. I believed I was allowed to be happy._

_How long will it take for you to notice my absence? Will you make up idle excuses as to why I am not already asleep when you come into bed? Will you suddenly awake one day to realize that I have left you the opportunity to pursue your dreams? Will you care when you notice my trunk is gone from the closet?_

_I have to hope that you will take a few seconds to miss me. If I don't believe that I would sink too far into despair. I will carry on. I always do. Will you wake up, some day years in the future, and wish I had stayed? _

_But why would you? That would be as incomprehensible as Neville being able to brew a potion in your presence would be. Clearly, I will be forgotten._

_Except, you will have reminders of me. Perhaps a Professor will mention me. Perhaps I will get into The Daily Prophet more than I wish to. What will you feel when you open the paper and see my face? Will you spare a second to think back on the time we spent together? Will your only thought be of how glad you are I left?_

_It's funny. They all tell me that this break-up isn't my fault. They try to placate me with compliments to myself, and slanders to the name of your ancestors. But it is my fault. I was the one who suggested he join us. You were the one who said it was only once. When it became more, I went along. I thought it was possible the three of us could work. I was fully prepared to love you both, if only you could each hold some affection for me. I fought the people who said our association was perverted, disgusting. I was _happy_._

_But then your mind starting wandering when it was just the two of us. I'd see you, looking at the fire, as though you were wishing the other man would come through the fire and join us. And I realized I wasn't needed. You two were happy. It was selfish of me to stay and infringe on that. I want you both to be happy. I want each of you to live, and love, and prosper. I want you both to be happy, and live to a ripe old age, and die in your sleep. I don't want you to have to think about insulting me when you want to spend time with him._

_Most of all, I want you to think back sometimes. I want you to remember the person who brought you two together. I want you to be grateful when you see me in the paper, alone, with no one accompanying me to whatever latest Ministry event I have been black-mailed into going to. I want you two to not have to feel as though your relationship is forbidden. I want you to be free. I want to see your engagement announcement in the Daily Prophet. I want to see pictures of your wedding, both of you happy and so deeply in love. I want to know I did the thing that allowed the two people I love most in this world to be happy. _

_I've written a letter to Draco as well, Severus. I felt it wrong to leave without giving you some notice. Sort of betrays the point of wondering whether you'll notice I'm gone though, doesn't it?_

_Invite Draco to live with you, Severus. The house is too large for only one person. Besides, now there will be room for his stuff. _

_All my love,_

_Harry._

Harry placed both letters on the bedside table. He grabbed an unlaundered shirt of Severus', and one of Draco's.

He closed the bedroom door quietly behind him when he left.

Fin.

AN: This may turn out to be more than just a one-shot.


	2. Draco's Letter

**Author's Notes: DancingWithRoses wanted to see Draco's letter. This is what I came up with. Not sure if there'll be more, but I switched it from "Complete" to "In Progress" just in case. Please review!**

_Dear Draco,_

_Please take care of Severus. I don't really know what else to say. One the off chance Severus misses me, don't let him blame you. It's not your fault. I don't even blame Severus. You can't help who you fall in love with. I've learnt that much from this experience, anyway._

_Thank-you for putting up with me. I know it's always been about Severus. Do you remember telling me that you've had a crush on Severus since our sixth year? You were really, really drunk, so I doubt you remember. But it got me thinking. You'd wished for just one time with Severus. I didn't want to give him to you, but I couldn't deny that you were beautiful, and the idea of watching you and Severus together was hot. So I offered you the chance to share him._

_When it became more than once I went along with it. After all, I thought, if Severus and I could become lovers, and you and I could become drinking partners, what stopped us from becoming more?_

_I'll be asking Severus to ask you to live with him. He's been wishing you lived with us for ages, you know. You both need to look after each other. Severus forgets to eat whenever he's engrossed in something. You need to remember to stop and rest. Don't let me pick up the Daily Prophet only to see an article about you collapsing from exhaustion._

_You've both made me very happy. But now I need to make you and Severus happy. You and Severus may want to avoid the Weasleys. They're blaming you both, but you especially. I've tried to convince them not to kill you, but I'm not sure they'll heed me._

_I know people say that there's no way you can love two people just the same, but somehow I do. I've never exactly been normal. Why would I be with the people I love?_

_Just because I have more memories of Severus, have loved him longer, does not mean that I haven't come to love you as well. I want you both to be happy, and I believe that you are the one Severus needs to be–and stay—happy, as Severus is for you._

_All my love,_

_Harry_


	3. Afterward

**Author's Notes: I think this is the end. If I happen to do any more short scenes, they'll likely be published as one-shots. I think I like this ending though.**

Afterward

Draco and Severus stayed secluded for a time, not out of shock, really, but from a feeling of surprise and bafflement that came from having their life turned around. They both worked through their feelings silently, not feeling that it was something to be shared. Severus was angry, at first, that Harry would just leave, while Draco was guilty, and searched his soul for hours, wondering whether he had really wanted Harry gone.

Life without Harry was different than before in many ways. The most obvious changes included how there were less ornaments and pictures adorning the house, and the empty space in the bed when they slept. The less obvious changes included the silence in conversations when Draco and Severus waited for Harry's reply, and how the huge bed was cold with only two bodies to warm it. They had both attempted to reach Harry, and both of them kept their letters hidden from the other. But all the owls came back, never having found the recipient, and no one was willing to tell them where Harry was.

Through an un-discussed agreement, Severus and Draco did not lie in Harry's third of the bed. Draco did not officially move in with Severus for several months, though a few more of his things did find their way over to the house, whether by accident, necessity, or in an attempt to make Harry's absence less noticeable. But both of them realized something of Harry would always remain.

* * *

If not for a chance meeting in Diagon Alley one day, it is quite possible Severus and Draco would have thought Harry dead. Later, they would wonder whether Harry had been in the Alley that day on purpose, to adhere to the possibilities his letters had set out, but they never got the chance to ask him.

It wasn't a meeting of monument proportions; there were no flowers or declarations of undying love. Instead, Severus and Draco saw Harry beside Fortescue's Ice-cream, as though he had been waiting for something. He saw them walking, but did not say anything. As they got closer, Harry waved his hand once, in farewell, and, squinting against the sun that lit his face with an almost ethereal glow, smiled, if slightly sadly, and Disapparated.

Severus and Draco returned home that night, both silent and disinclined to talk, perhaps brooding just a little. But after that night, something changed between them. The relics of Harry's time with them became more like a shrine, and less like they were just waiting for him to return. Severus's anger faded, replaced by sadness, and Draco's guilt faded (though it never left completely) and they started to build a life together. Severus took up most of the cooking, and made sure Draco rested, just as Draco did for him. The occasional sightings of Harry in the Daily Prophet were bittersweet to see, and Severus and Draco always read them together. Later, Draco would unearth his collection of clippings from the paper, of Harry, of Severus, of their trials and joys, and hang them about his house. Eventually Harry did see their engagement in the Prophet, along with pictures of their bonding. He kept tabs on his loved ones, through-out their lives, and lived through them.

When the end came to their happiness, it came slowly and painfully. Severus, weakened by the years spent in servitude to a mad man, and already older than Draco and Harry, went first, on a cold April day when no sun shone and no wind blew.

His funeral was quiet, and only a small amount of people attended. Harry had debated not going, but had received a personal invitation from Draco that Harry could not refuse. It had read:

_Dear Harry,_

_I know you've already received the funeral announcement, but I expected that you would dither about coming or not, and had to send this myself. You have to come, Harry. You are—were important to Severus. He loved you, you know. You deserve to be there, and it just feels right to include you._

_Also, I can't do this on my own. I know it might be selfish, but I need someone else who is genuinely grieving to be there. Please, Harry._

_Draco_

Harry had gone, and Draco had sat him down beside himself, and they had been quiet during the blessing and rites. It wasn't as awkward as Harry had thought it would be.

In the years following Harry's death an un-authorized biography of his life was written. It was over sentimental and wrong on several accounts, but right on several more, including the first line of the part of the book concerning his personal life, which read "Harry Potter was a solitary man. Unique in the tradition of heroes marrying the most eligible person in the land, Potter lived most of his life in near-seclusion."

Harry never had another lover. He did not keep himself isolated on purpose, but subconsciously thought it was easier that way. He gardened, and dabbled in painting and writing, and wrote long letters to his friends. He subscribed to the Daily Prophet, and was a regular donor to the charity to pay for the children of low-income families to go to Hogwarts. He painted the rooms of his cottage several different bright, happy colors, and decorated with lots of picture frames.

And so it came to be that only Draco was left, of the original three. He retired late, and lived alone in the house Severus and Harry had once shared. He also kept a multitude of pictures, and the rare visitor might find him staring at them, lost in thought. He was an anonymous donor to the Harry Potter charity fund, which donated to orphanages in need, both magical and non-magical. He kept no pets, and only one servant, as he had come to like cooking for himself, it felt like there was a little bit of both his lovers around him when he did so. Draco spent many years lost in quiet contemplation, but managed to publish some of Harry's writings, and black-mailed the people who didn't want to publish a Death-Eater's writings, so Severus' works also became published. Draco had no talent for writing himself, but did turn to the drawing he had learnt from his mother at a young age, and soon there were nearly as many paintings as there were photographs.

When Draco died, no one remembered him for long. And when they did, it was to say "Remember that old block that lived in that house all by himself? Solitary man, him. Odd, you know."

But perhaps somewhere Draco and Severus have been reunited. Perhaps Harry has joined them once again, in a place where love is the most prevalent feeling. Or perhaps their three souls have been released into the world, to do as they wish, and maybe, just maybe, they have all found each other again.

Or perhaps they have never reunited, or Draco and Severus have, but found the years separating them from Harry impossible to overcome in pursuit of a relationship. Perhaps, in a different dimension, they exist only as characters on a page.

Or maybe, just maybe, their true story has yet to be told.

**Merry Christmas! I think at some points I had hope of writing a happy Christmas story. ... Bit late now though.**


End file.
